Two Minds & All the Places They Have Been
by dreamlandwonders7
Summary: Zyla Bree Zone's life has never been stable, let alone normal. She was a child prodigy in the depths of Las Vegas, struggling to keep her mother out of rehab as well as support herself. When she meets Spencer Reid, both their lives change inexplicably, and they will never be the same; which, somehow, turns into troubling doing. [Reid/OFC. Light M.]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello! I'm Becca. This isn't my first fanfic, but it is my first published work on here. I will refer to this story as Two Minds in the future, just to let you know. This story starts somewhat near the beginning of season four, after JJ had Henry, so there will be spoilers for the show from there on in. There will also be a lot of memories and flashbacks to Spencer's past and also Zyla's, who is my OFC and the main character in this story.

If you've read Song Remains the Same, written by River Winters, you'll see a lot of that same writing format here. I just love it, and her story is so good. If you like Supernatural, you should go check it out.

This story is rated M, but keep in mind it's a light M. There will be sexual content, but not too graphic. Other warnings are listed below, and if a specific chapter has something in it (NSFW, violence, sexual assault, etc.) I will post it before every chapter.

My face claim for Zyla is Sky Ferreira (long blonde hair), and my face claim for Andrew Trump (appears in later chapters) is Wentworth Miller; if you're wondering what they look like.

I hope you won't think this chapter is too boring. It should pick up soon, but I'm not quite sure when. Thank you for taking time to read this, and reviews are always appreciated. If you have any concerns about my story, whether it be a typo or a miss of a warning, please tell me and I will try to fix it. Happy reading!

Story Details:

**Title**- Two Minds & All the Places They Have Been

**Author**- dreamlandwonder7 (a.k.a Becca)

**Fandom**- Criminal Minds

**Rating**- Rated M for dark content typical of the show, violence, sexual assault, mild language, mild NSFW, verbal & physical abuse, mild domestic violence, angst, alcohol & drug abuse, family loss

**Summary**- Zyla Bree Zone's life has never been stable, let alone normal. She was a child prodigy in the depths of Las Vegas, struggling to keep her mother out of rehab as well as support herself. When she meets Spencer Reid, both their lives change inexplicably, and they will never be the same; which, somehow, turns into troubling doing. Reid/OFC.

**Disclaimer**- I do not own Criminal Minds, or any of their characters. I'm just playing with them and giving myself feels. No profit is coming from this story.

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**Two Minds & All the Places They Have Been**

Chapter One / Ring

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Everybody thinks that Spencer Reid has never been in love, or knew what love even was. Many think that he's still a virgin, even at 26. Nobody really thinks to question his childhood; what friends he could have made, what experiences he could have had.

And, to be quite honest, Spencer liked it this way. He, selfishly, liked to think that what they had, whatever it was, was his little secret. He liked to think that she was his private thoughts, his intimate feelings.

He liked to think that she was his.

However, like all good things, that came to an end. He had believed that it ended with that phone call, but honestly, he was wrong. It was the beginning of another chapter. He just didn't know the terrible cliffhanger looming in the distance.

It was late. He, Emily Prentiss, and Derek Morgan, his trusted colleagues and friends, were sitting in their arranged desks. Morgan was sitting with a federal file on his lap, his feet up on his desk with a coffee in hand. His vision was becoming blurred as his chocolate browns continued sweeping down the page. He was obviously trying to viciously fight an oncoming yawn, but was failing. Prentiss was sitting with her head resting on her hand, red eyes drooping sluggishly as her other hand lay rested around her becoming-cold coffee cup. Laced between her fingers as they rested on her chin was a pen, and she was staring down at the page, reading the same sentence she wrote over and over again sleepily. Spencer was, as always, chugging down black coffee like it was water and reading 20,000 words per minute as he finished reviewing their latest case file.

Aaron Hotchner, the captain of their little squad, was sitting in his office, eyebrows always furrowed as he took phone calls and read over files. He was looking like he could go on sitting in his chair for hours doing that very thing, but in reality, ready to pass out on the spot from exhaustion. David Rossi, on the other hand, did not have the energy nor care for keeping up the workaholic act and was asleep in his chair in the next office over. He was borderline snoring, and had been like that since the first early hours of the night.

Spencer was so entirely engrossed in his work that he didn't even hear his phone ring the first two rings; even as Prentiss jumped about two feet in the air at the sudden noise in front of him. He only engaged in the world around him when Morgan threw a crumpled Post-It note at his head in what was trying to be an annoyed manner, but was actually a little amused.

"Phone, Reid. Answer it." Prentiss said testily, mostly annoyed at both how she had dozed off and that the damned ringing woke her up. Spencer wasted not another minute, not wanting to agitate the agent further.

"This is Dr. Spencer Reid," he answered, sitting up straighter in his chair and rubbing his hands from the bridge of his nose. "Dr. Reid? We have a Marilyn Moriarty here at Mercy Heart Hospital in New York. She has here in her medical files that if anything were to happen to her, we were to call you."

He had froze when her alias was said. Could it be? Could it _actually_ be her? It had been years since he last saw her; sitting in that hospital bed, lying next to her, feeling her flushed skin against his as they held each other. She was crying, and he wiped her tears.

The woman on the phone spoke again, snapping Spencer out of his beloved memory.

"Sir? Dr. Reid?" she questioned. Spencer cleared his throat weakly, his mind working into overdrive. It was filled with so many thoughts, too many thoughts, and all about her.

"Yes, I'm here. What happened?" he quaked, demanding his voice to stay calm and professional.

"Ms. Moriarty came in earlier from a bullet wound to the abdomen. It pierced through the lining of her stomach. It was touch and go for a while, but they got the bleeding under control and patched her up. She should be getting out of the ICU now and into a room." While the woman was talking, Spencer felt a mix of different emotions. Anxiety was the most upfront one. His heart was in his ears, and his hands were shaky. He had felt relief that she had made it, then he recalled the saying of a bullet wound. Someone had shot her. He then felt white-hot anger course through his veins; anger that he had felt only once before, and anger he had promised himself he wouldn't let happen again.

Spencer took a second to get his emotions and thoughts under control, closing his eyes briefly, before opening them again and having another professional face on. "I will be there first thing." he spoke, then hung up without another word. She was back.

Zyla was back.

And she was hurt.

Spencer pushed that thought out of his mind for now as he stood from his desk in a controlled frenzy, not even caring that Prentiss and Morgan had been eyeing and listening to him the entire phone call. Both were now wide awake, and staring with both suspicion and worry for their friend.

"Reid? What's going on?" Morgan asked, his feet now planted firmly on the ground. Spencer didn't answer at first. He pulled his growing hair back behind his ears as he gathered his things and stuffed them warily into his bookbag and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm going home, I-I don't feel very well. I'm thinking I might take tomorrow off too. I'm going to go tell Hotch."

He left without another word to his friends and made his way up the stairs to his boss's office. He peeked his head in the door. "I'm going home, and I won't be in tomorrow." he said, wringing his hands together anxiously as he stood under the door frame.

Hotch glanced up for a moment, only to look back up and observe closer at his colleague. He was showing obvious signs of anxiety; fidgeting hands, excessive blinking, no eye contact. Something was bothering him, and it was something that made him need to flee. "Are you okay, Reid?" he asked, staring him down.

The lie that was bubbling to Reid's mouth instantly faltered, and he was left silent, mouth slightly agape. Of course they would see right through him. "Uh, no. I'm not. I need to go to New York, and I probably won't be in the next couple days." he spoke honestly.

Hotch frowned in suspicion, and in concern. "What's happened?" Spencer cleared his throat, dropping his hands to his sides as he entered the room further, standing in front of his desk. "It's a long story. The short version is that my best friend from Las Vegas got shot in New York, and she just got out of surgery."

Hotch set down his pen, standing up. "Is she okay?" he asked, sincere. Spencer nodded faintly. "They said that it was touch and go for a while, but she'll be okay. She just needs me right now, and-"

"No, you go. Take as much time as you need. Just- take care of yourself. You haven't slept in 24 hours." Hotchner said, arms crossed. Spencer nodded again, a look of gratitude and what looked like relief brought out a very weak smile. He quickly walked out of the room, where Morgan and Prentiss was watching him, their go-bags in hand and seemingly waiting for him.

"What are you guys doing?" Spencer demanded, stopping in front of them. "We're going with you." Prentiss answered simply. Spencer scoffed lightly, and started walking towards the elevator, the two following closely behind. "Why?" he asked, hitting the button down.

"Because you look like you need some company, and there's no way in hell we're letting you go alone, kid. So it'd be better if you just shut up about it and told us what's going on." Morgan said. The elevator dinged open, but Spencer took a moment before entering, having a feeling of comfort at how much his friends care about him. He swallowed a small lump forming in his throat as he entered the elevator, Prentiss and Morgan following. The doors shut and they went down.

"It's a long story." Spencer spoke faintly. His voice seemed to fade, and his eyes looked like they were in a different time, and a different place.

"Well, kid," Morgan said, looking ahead as the doors slid open. "We've got time."


	2. Chapter 2

**Two Minds & All the Places They Have Been**

Chapter Two / Back to the Start

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"_Ooh, look, it's the boy genius."_

"_You think you're so much better than us, don't you?"_

"_Please, just give it back!" Spencer Reid, age 7, cried, trying to reach his favorite book, which was held up in the air by Jace Brown and Carl Rogers. They were the biggest bullies in his grade, and Spencer was their favorite victim. When he was reading his mother's book underneath the shade of a big oak tree, they took it from him and now won't give it back._

_Jace took it from Carl, and the cover ripped off. Spencer's face crumpled as the two boys laughed, dropping the torn book in the dirt. Spencer hardly noticed as a girl, wearing a torn, painted tutu and cowboy boots, stomped up to the two laughing boys._

"_Hey! Why'd you do that?" the girl said, with a twang of a fake British accent. The boys' laughter faltered just slightly as Spencer looked up from his destroyed book and stared in shock as nine-year-old Zyla Zone came and defended him against his tormentors. _

"_Oh come on, Zyla, it's just Reid-" Carl was interrupted as Zyla promptly punched him in the nose, sending him to his knees as blood spilled on his chin._

"_Hey-!" Zyla sent a kick in Jace's privates as the angry eleven-year-old ran her way, and he fell in a clump beside Carl, who had started to cry. Both quickly got up and ran off, screeching. _

_Spencer looked at the scene in shock, wondering if Zyla was going to come his way next. They didn't really go off on a good start when they first met a couple years ago, and a rivalry of "who was the best student?" had begun. She has hardly looked his way, and now she just beat up two bullies? _

_Zyla picked up his torn book, dusting off the dirt. "I'm sure I can fix it at my house with some tape. Would you like me to?"_

_Spencer didn't answer her at first. He took in her appearance again. She was always a little strange, which was weird coming from him, but right now she looked very troubling. Her tutu was obviously once a very pretty pale blue, and was torn what looked like deliberately and painted black, which was all over her hands. Her old cowboy boots were once a bright red, but was now muddy and had splotches of different colored paint on it, including the black that was everywhere else. Her shirt was not hers, as it was a men's t-shirt supporting some kind of rock band Spencer didn't know. Her bright blonde hair was up in high pigtails. _

_Zyla watched Spencer analyze her; clever even at ages 7 and 9. She crossed her arms defiantly. "Whatcha starin' at?" she demanded, her fake British accent easier to hear._

"_Why do you talk like that?" Spencer asked curiously, taking the torn book from her and holding it close to him protectively. _

"_My mom watches a lot of TV. I like the way they talk. By the way, a thank you might be in order." she said, turning and trudging down the hill where the oak tree was back down to the sidewalk. They were on the outside of the downtown area, a neighborhood they both lived in. _

"_Well, thank you." Spencer mumbled, looking down at his book. Zyla grinned at him, a big toothy one, and he couldn't help a small smile on his face. "I can fix this at home. There's no need for you to mend it for me." _

_Zyla studied him for a second over her shoulder before stopping in front of his house and turning to him. _

"_See ya around, Spencer." she said before turning and walking off. Spencer stared after her, a question boggling his mind. _

"_Hey, Zyla?"_

"_What?" she yelled, turning and stopping again._

"_Why did you stop them? I thought you didn't like me." Spencer said, squinting at her. _

"_I don't like bullies," she said simply. She then grinned at him again. "Bye, boy genius."_

Spencer Reid, age 26 in the present day, smiled a little to himself as he told his colleagues about his best friend. He looked out the window in the empty train car, watching lights fly by.

"After that day, we learned that we had a lot in common and we quickly became friends. She once said that it was only because no one else would be our friends," he smiled a little at that, remembering her quirked smile. "We were best friends and were really close until college. In high school, we would always meet up in the library, if Zyla didn't get in trouble that day. She liked to think that it was her job to protect people, so whenever she saw someone getting bullied or being picked on she went over there and 'straightened them out', as she would say. I never did understand why she absolutely did not want to become an FBI agent."

Prentiss and Morgan, who had been listening and watching carefully to their friend, looked on with knowing smiles and shared glances. The way Reid talked and felt about this girl; they knew that she was special.

"What happened at college?" Prentiss asked, referring to what he mentioned earlier. Spencer sighed heartily at that, looking from the window to his friends and wringing his hands.

"I graduated a year before Zyla, though I'm younger than her. We were seperated for a little while, but we still kept in touch. We wrote letters constantly. She looked after my mom for me while I was gone.

"On the night she graduated high school, I surprised her by coming. After the ceremony had ended, I took her up to our favorite place. In Las Vegas, there isn't much greenery around but Zy and I found a small field a ways out of the city that was usually lush green around that time of year. We use to try to stay out there for hours because no one would've really come looking for us, but I usually had to go home early because of my mom." Spencer explained, his eyes looking misted-over, lost in thought.

"Why would no one come look for her? What happened to her family?" Morgan asked, barely glancing when the conductor said that they were five minutes out of New York City.

"Her dad was in the Navy, he was a general. He died in battle when she was ten, and after he died her mom couldn't handle it. She kept moving from job to job, and was getting on drugs and alcohol to cope. Most of the time Zyla had to feed and take care of herself, as well as try to keep her mother out of rehab."

Spencer quieted then, looking at his hands. "That night, I kissed her and told her that I loved her. I didn't really know why I decided to spill that right then and there, but it felt right, like I had to. Except that past year she had gotten together with Andrew Trump-"

He stopped talking when the train screeched to a stop, the long ride officially over. The trio was silent as they carried their bags over their shoulders as they got a cab into the city and to the hospital. Morgan and Prentiss were mulling over all the information they had been given, trying to put together the puzzle of their friend's past. Spencer was getting exceedingly more anxious as they neared close to the hospital. His hands were fidgeting with each other and on the way through the doors, Prentiss took them.

"She's going to be fine, Reid." she told him softly, and for some reason, that statement from Prentiss helped immensely.

When he got to the door, he had to stop. His heart hammered in his chest, and his breath faltered. She looked incredibly small; Zyla always seemed so big for her personality. Her skin was pale, and her face was in a subconscious grimace. Her hair was knotted, her fingernails down to the skin. Her hands and face were scattered with scrapes and bruises. Her fingers and legs twitched, and her eyelids fluttered. A nasal tube was hooked on her ears, her breathing quiet and irregular. A heart monitor gave singular beeps, showing her erratic beats.

Spencer couldn't move from the doorway, frozen in place. His throat became dry and he blinked consistently. He completely forgot about Morgan and Prentiss' presence until there was a soft hand on his arm.

"We'll be out here, okay?" she said to him, and he nodded. He gathered up the courage to walk through the door, setting his bag down without taking his eyes off her. He sat uncertainty in the chair next to the bed, and stared down at her. Hesitantly, he took her hand tenderly, reveling in her warm, soft skin. His heart could've beat out of his chest.

He checked her face for any signs of response, but she was still. A small flame of distress flickered, but he quickly extinguished it. Spencer held her hand tightly with his, and stood up slightly to lean forward and give her a lingering kiss to her forehead. He rested his on top of hers, wishing that she could wake up and be okay.

From outside, Morgan and Prentiss watched through the door as their friend struggled, holding the hand of the girl he loves. Both of their hearts went out to them. They gave each other a tired glance.

"Poor kid never gets a break, does he?" Morgan muttered. Prentiss sighed, agreeing. It seems that Spencer Reid always picked the short stick.

However, as she studied the scene closer, she decided that maybe, just maybe, the universe gave him a chance of happiness.

The universe gave him her.

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**A/N:** I'm sorry that took longer to update! I'm trying to write as much as possible, but a lot is going on now-a-days.

I would love to know how you guys think of the story so far! I gave you some more information about Spencer and Zyla's past, but more is coming, just you wait.

Hoping to have the next chapter out a little sooner than this one. Thank you all for being so patient!


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